After several days of headaches brought about by trying to get into matches, I can now confidently review EA and DICE’s Battlefield 1942 download-only sequel, Battlefield 1943. I wish I was joking about the online issues, but sadly they were quite real. Getting into a quick match was incredibly difficult, and playing with friends was all but impossible. DICE stepped up though, adding several additional servers and ironing out most of the connection wrinkles prohibiting gamers from getting into matches.

These issues seem to have largely existed on the Xbox Live side of things, as there are far fewer reports of connectivity issues from PlayStation Network users. I played the Xbox Live Arcade version of Battlefield 1943 for review purposes, but the PSN version is identical in form and function, so PS3 owners may feel free to use my review to aid in their buying decisions.

So, after all those headaches, was the game worth waiting for? The answer to that question depends largely on what kind of gamer you are. If you’re a fan of Battlefield 1942, the answer is an enthusiastic “yes.” Although the DICE team behind 1943 did not develop the original, they paid great homage to the PC classic, and even improved upon the already-stellar gameplay with a few tweaks. Ammo is now infinite; snipers can’t go prone; teams are limited to 12 players; and so on. Continue Reading This Story

It seems delaying BioShock 2 until the first half of 2010 wasn’t enough for publisher Take-Two Interactive. We now know that in addition to the aforementioned title, Take-Two has delayed Mafia II, Max Payne 3, and Red Dead Redemption until 2010.

Take-Two wasn’t as specific with these three titles as they were for BioShock 2, so we can’t say if this a delay until fiscal year 2010, or just plain ol’ 2010. If it’s the former, these games could still come out in 2009. If the latter—which is the most likely possibility, given the glut of titles already confirmed for late ‘09—then who knows when we’ll see them.

As some of you folks commented on the previous delay article, this is largely a good thing for gamers. We’ll have far less stacked on our plates so that we can savor every bite. And is anyone really surprised? Take-Two did the same thing in 2007, pushing Grand Theft Auto IV back until an unspecified time in 2008, only giving us a firm date further down the line.

Of the three additional titles being delayed, the only one that bothers me is Red Dead Redemption. I was disappointed by Red Dead Revolver, but the sequel is shaping up quite nicely. It looks like the game the original should have been. What about you folks? Any of these delays got you down?

Apparently UFC president Dana White is not a fan of EA Sports. In fact, he claims he and UFC are “at war” with EA. This announcement comes just after the UFC 100 match on Saturday. White wants it to be well known that anyone who sides with EA in this face-off will not be favored by the UFC.

Evidently, EA passed on the video game rights to the UFC franchise some time ago. “EA Sports told us, ‘You’re not a real sport,’” White said. “‘We wouldn’t touch this thing. We want nothing to do with this.’” THQ took up the rights instead, helping to publish UFC Undisputed 2009, which has shipped over 2 million units since May.

Now that EA is putting their marketing and publishing power behind the upcoming EA MMA, White is furious. “You [EA Sports] told us you’d never be in business with us. They wouldn’t even take a meeting because mixed martial arts disgusted them. This wasn’t a real sport. Boy, they got over that real quick, didn’t they?”

White went on to say that any MMA fighter who signs their likeness rights away to EA will be blacklisted from UFC competition. “I’m not tap-dancing around this thing or whatever,” White said. “I’m telling you straight-up, I’m at war with them right now. That’s how I look at it.”

I have to question what kind of game EA Sports hopes to get out of EA MMA now that White will not allow UFC fighters to participate in its creation. Sure, there are other MMA franchises, but none have the popularity or name recognition of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. One thing is certain: competition only drives developers and publishers to make a better product, so gamers will be the real winners in this heated battle.

(Thanks to Jeff, AKA xI3 3 A S Tx, for the heads up on this one.)

Earlier today, Take-Two Interactive made the very disappointing announcement that they were pushing the release date for BioShock 2 back until the 2010 fiscal year. For those not in-the-know, said fiscal year will run from November 1, 2009 until October 31, 2010. The original release date was set for November 3 in North America, so this announcement seemed rather vague and random.

Now we have a bit of clarification. Take-Two added that BioShock 2 will definitely not release in 2009, but rather in the first half of 2010. That’s the real 2010—not some fiscal year gobbledygook. Take-Two says the delay will “provide additional development time for the title.” Hopefully, the extra time in the oven will result in more delicious gaming experience.

We’ll let you know about any further changes to the release date as soon as the info is available.

Brian Brinegar, John Groth and Chris Deckard from the original Mario Marathon are at it again this year, playing through every major Mario Bros. console game. Their goal, like last time, is to raise money for charity. This year’s charity is Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play, which raises money to buy toys and video games for sick and dying children.

As you can see from the live feed, the boys are well on their way to meeting their goal of 100% completion in each game, and are hoping to hit their monetary goal of $98, 000 before the marathon ends Wednesday, July 13. As I write this, the gang has raised $23, 370.50 for Child’s Play.

It warms my heart to see fellow geeks banding together to turn their favorite hobby into a means of helping others. Seeing these guys at it again has me thinking of pitching in a few bucks for Child’s Play this year. What about you folks?

Any Elder Scrolls fans around here? Of course there are!

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the release of The Elder Scrolls, Bethesda today has announced that The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall is freely available from their website.

Released in 1996, Daggerfall was the first in the series to use a skill based leveling system. It featured a massive game world that no other Elder Scrolls game has come close to matching, and featured multiple endings depending on the choices you made during the main quest.

Daggerfall requires a DOS emulator such as DOSBox to run, and Bethesda have provided installation and configuration instructions at the download link. Five years ago, to celebrate The Elder Scroll’s 10th anniversary, the original The Elder Scrolls: Arena was released for free. It’s still available, if you really want to go old school.

Today we see the announcement of of a brand new MechWarrior game. Set in the 25 year old BattleTech universe, the series started as a pen and paper RPG before moving to the PC with the MechWarrior and MechCommander games on PC, and the MechAssault games on consoles. The franchise has laid dormant for several years, with only a Microsoft-approved mod project for Crysis to keep the MechWarrior fires lit.

That all changes now. Set in an urban combat zone in the year 3015, the game will use the Unreal 3 Engine, support 2-4 player coop, and cross-platform experience based multiplayer. The single player will also feature some sort of experience system where you get better as you use the mechs, and will allow you to play through the campaign using four different classes of mechs.

So far only the 360 and PC were mentioned as platforms. It will probably stay that way, seeing as Microsoft owns the MechWarrior license. No release date either, but seeing as the game only really started development in October, I think it’s safe to say it won’t be out for quite a while. Still, it’s great to see the francise back on the map. Check out IGN for an incredibly detailed interview with the creators of the game, and check out the first trailer after the jump.

Continue Reading This Story

Battlefield 1943 just hit the Xbox Live Marketplace today for the rather high price of 1200 Microsoft Points. I’d love to tell you that the game is fun and worth price, but I haven’t been able to play much—and neither has anyone else, for that matter.

Reports are popping up over at EA Games’ forums and elsewhere online that the Battlefield 1943 servers are totally janked. I can say from first-hand experience that this is quite true. I tried unsuccessfully for several minutes to get into a quick match, and was only able to do so once. I couldn’t get a friends match going at all.

So before you folks drop 1200 points for Battlefield 1943, be aware you might run into similar problems. To be fair, this is the release day, so of course the servers will be swamped, but you’d think EA would have planned for this. Hopefully, the servers will clear out a bit in the coming days.

UPDATE: Looks like the servers are at full capacity, meaning new players can’t join a match until others drop out. Also, the servers are experience date packet loss. DICE hopes to get new servers up and running with minimal packet loss by the end of the day.

Thanks to the crazy folks over at RedFlagDeals, we know of a great deal going on at EB Games today—and that’s today only, folks, so be prepared to get off your hump and make a trip if this interests you.

EB Games is offering Metal Gear Solid 4: Limited Edition, which originally retailed for much more than the standard $60 version, for just $9.89. Yep, you can get a fancy version of one of the best PS3 games available for the price of a steak dinner at a family eatery.

If you live near a EB Games and have yet to experience MGS4, you really have no excuse to put it off any longer. Get in your car, or borrow somebody else’s vehicle, and get your butt down to EB Games. Don’t miss out on this great game before the price sky-rockets again!

UPDATE: I probably should stop updating the site in the wee hours of the morning, because I tend to miss obvious things—like the fact that this deal is only good in Canada. You’d think “RedFlag” would tip me off; but nope, it didn’t. But since the PS3 is region-free, you can still head across the border and pick a copy of MGS4 LE if you live close enough. If not, well, I don’t know what to say other than I’m sorry. I’ve got a copy of MGS4 sitting on my shelf, waiting for a new owner, if anyone is interested.

Special Guest Host Sven Johnson!!

Call of Juarez BiB
Battlefield Heroes
Playstation game that Jeff "LOVES"..?.?.?.?
Tune in and find out!!